James gives us 3 ways to examine our own hearts whether we are merely hearers of the word or hearers and doers: can I bridle my tongue, do I help those in need, and do I keep myself unspotted from the world.Sermon by Jeff Wagner

Notes: Simply put, God’s wisdom is living according to His ways. James teaches us that when we face trials we need to ask God for His wisdom and be willing to live out the wisdom He gives. It is faith in practice.

Notes: Endurance is one of the major themes in the book of James. Endurance marks a Christian as mature. It cannot be fabricated nor can it be faked because it is built up through trials as our faith is proven.

Notes: We do not know much about Barabbas except that he was a rebel, a murderer, and a robber. It is enough of a description to conclude he was deserving of execution. Yet Jesus takes his place on the cross. The NT teaches us that Christ “bore our sins in His body on the cross…” and this is a picture of the substitutionary nature of Jesus’ death. We have no idea how Barabbas lived his new freedom, but we are called to “die to sin and live to righteousness” as the result of Christ’s work on the cross. “For by His wounds you are healed.”

Notes: The Romans soldiers dress Jesus up as a king and give Him a crown as a king and then hail Him as a king. In dressing Jesus up in the outward attire of a king, even bowing to Him as if He were a king, they are mocking Him, because they in no way believe He is a king, let alone the King. Yet in bearing the scorn of their mockery, He shows Himself to be the only King.

Notes: There are things about God as revealed in His word that are incomprehensible to us. The word reveals it but our limited minds cannot adequately grasp the glory made known. One such revelation is the nature of Christ: totally God and totally man. The agony of Jesus in the garden reveals His humanity. The triumph of Jesus through the agony—not My will but Your will be done—reveals His divinity. The response to such revelation is worship.

Notes: When Jesus taught His disciples to pray He said, “Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thine name. Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” In the Garden of Gethsemane, when facing the certain wrath of God for sin, this is what Jesus prayed: “Not what I will, but what Thou wilt.” It is this confidence in the will of the Father that we see as Jesus rises up from prayer and faces His betrayer and the multitude come to seize Him. He makes it clear to them all, His disciples included, that what is happening to Him at their hands is according to the word of God, not men. God’s plan to finally deal with sin is not man made; salvation comes from God.

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Sermon-2015-6-14: Israel’s Trial of the Messiah

Title: Israel’s Trial of the Messiah

Text: Mark 14:53-65

Notes: Jesus is on trial before the religious leaders of Israel. They believe they are trying a man presuming to be God when in fact they are trying the very Messiah promised to them by God. There are 3 basic questions: the messiah as Priest, Prophet, and King. Mark provides the evidence for Messiah as Prophet, and will, as the narrative unfolds, provide the evidence for Messiah as Priest and King.

Notes: Peter denies his Lord. After all that we have read about Peter, his strengths and weaknesses, it all comes down to a few hours in the courtyard of the high priest’s home when Peter’s following after the Lord is challenged and he fails. It would be a tragic end, except for the grace of God through Jesus Christ.

Notes: Jesus was delivered up to Pilate by the determination of the Sanhedrin. He stands accused of being the King of the Jews, an accusation He readily admits as the truth. Yet he gives no defense for Himself and stands silent. He fulfills the prophecy of Isaiah “He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, so He did not open His mouth.” No crime has been committed and still He stands condemned. Mark’s narrative makes it clear that no human court has any legitimacy or authority to pass judgment on the Son of God. The curse of sin must be dealt with by God and is in His hands alone, just as our justification is completely beyond our power and in His hands alone.